Review of The Talented Mr. Varg by Alexander McCall Smith

A Droll Detective and a Lip-Reading Dog Alexander McCall Smith makes the irrelevant relevant in The Talented Mr. Varg (Pantheon), a satirical social commentary on the mundane. Ulf Varg is not your average…

Mock Assassinations & Political Conspiracy in Matthew Quirk’s HOUR OF THE ASSASSIN

In HOUR OF THE ASSASSIN, author Matthew Quirk spins a tale of murder, betrayal, political greed, and conspiracy, inspired by stories he covered as a reporter for The Atlantic. Former Secret…

The Sword of Justice: Cheering For Tori Eldridge’s Unlikely Ninja Hero

In her debut novel, The Ninja Daughter, author Tori Eldridge turns a young woman with a passion for justice into a modern-day martial-arts hero. Lily Wong is an anachronism — a…

Sisters, Secrets, and Ties That Bind in LAST DAY by Luanne Rice

Two sisters, part of a pact of “blood-sister” best friends—the Compass Rose. One of them is murdered. In LAST DAY, prolific author Luanne Rice explores how secrets can lurk just…

Review of WITHIN PLAIN SIGHT and Interview With Bruce Robert Coffin

A staged body missing its head sends Detective Sergeant John Byron of the Portland, Maine, police department on a chase for the killer. In WITHIN PLAIN SIGHT, author Bruce Robert…

Review of PERFECT LITTLE CHILDREN by Sophie Hannah

When you haven’t seen friends for a long time, it’s easy to remember their children as the same age you knew them years before. But when Beth Leeson sees her…

Luxury, Lessons, and Lies in GOOD GIRLS LIE by J.T. Ellison

Daughters of the rich and powerful attend The Goode School, an elite boarding school nestled within the hills of Marchburg, Virginia. The girls come from entitlement and wealth, except for…

Review of Deep State by Chris Hauty

An Even Deeper State On the surface, new White House intern Hayley Chill is “Walmart white trash desperately trying to claw her way out of Oxy-Appalachia.” An Army vet, her…